The Good That Won't Come Out
by a red burn
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served cold. MPJ
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: The Good That Won't Come Out.  
SUMMARY: Revenge is a dish better served cold. MPJ  
CATEGORY: A twisted romance with a lot of drama and angst and pain and, well... it IS revenge after all.  
SPOILER: Everything, I suppose.  
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, sadly. Not making money out of this, either.  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a... twisted love story. It's not the regular romance, per se, where both parties struggle with the sentiment, but basically one where both parties are _forced_ to dwell in it, "it" being there or not, which by the way, doesn't mean necessarily they'll act on it. It's a little confusing, but I can't really explain without giving the plot away. It'll be obvious with the first chapter.

This idea popped into my head suddenly and I figured 'why not'. I have written dozen of The Pretender fanfics, but that was years ago, and this is the first one I'm posting. It's not my first fanfic ever; as I have posted several for other fandoms, so hopefully this won't be too off the writing charts. Reviews are most welcome and received with squeals.

And, sadly, this was not beta read. So any and all mistakes are my fault.

Thanks for reading!

CHAPTER 1

The glass started to feel heavy and her hand faltered for only a second. She tried to grip the half empty glass tighter and ignore the sudden relaxing feeling washing through her body as she raised her hand to her lips to gulp the rest of the scotch down. Please, only one more gulp and she'd be done.

As she did so, she finally lost the grip and the sudden very heavy glass fell on the carpeted floor, the content spilling soundlessly. It was only when her vision blurred and she didn't have strength to bring her hands up to rub her eyes that worry hit her senses like freezing water had been thrown on her face while she was sleeping.

All she had wanted upon arriving home was a nice full glass of alcohol and drink herself to sleep, forget the mandatory stressful day at The Centre, forget Lyle's smug grin as "Daddy" (as he so eloquently reminded her frequently) gave her yet another one of his warning speeches about bringing Jarod back in and her endless failure of doing so. The chase was making him more than irritable and he wanted results now. She had been this close from giving the oxygen-depraved ghoul a little piece of her mind but was stopped shortly when Sydney interrupted. For her sake. Her father wasn't there anymore; there was no one now to be as tolerant towards her as Mr. Parker had once been. She was on her own.

Close calls were getting more frequent and in shorter amounts of time. Jarod was teasing, she knew, he was playing with them now, more than ever, and it was being enough to drive William Raines up the wall, and consequently bringing everyone with him, specially Lyle with his let's play nice façade. If truth were to be told, she'd have admitted right then that it was partly her fault as she had started being a little reckless on the chase. Her heart wasn't in it anymore and since Carthis, catching Jarod seemed a very, very distant future that would never happen. Not unless he allowed her of such. Which he never would. He seemed to notice the change in her because it caused him to contact them more, taunt her more and many more late night house calls with more warmth and less venom from her part.

She would never admit it, (not even under oath or some drug induced state, or even if Jesus himself resurrected again) but she actually enjoyed the calls. Jarod was the only thing tying her to her past, to the part of herself that had been hibernating (not dead) since her mother had died. And only during such calls did she allow that side to peek out. It was her refuge. And now with the rules turned upside down, God knew what would wait for her, for both of them, if she did ever bring Jarod back. She knew his freedom for hers was a long lost deal and she wasn't expecting such. It was now, bluntly put, his freedom for her life.

Using the armrest of the couch she was sitting on for support she tried to stand, but it was turn to her feet to falter. Like a drunk, she took a few seconds resting her body against the armrest before she attempted to take a step. It seemed like the simplest tasks required all her will power.

If only she could make it to her bedroom she could lie down and sleep it off; whatever 'it' was. But godamnit, even her cells were starting to fell numb.

"What's the problem, Miss Parker? Feeling a little dizzy?"

The sudden voice floating to her sounded like in a dream, or maybe as if she were under water. The intonation changed with each syllable and she tried to focus on the source as her mind went into confused synapses. Even through her daze she could feel the smile pouring forth from the male's lips. "Jarod, you idiot. What did you do now?" If she weren't trying so hard to keep her body upright, she'd have been impressed with the way her voice hadn't slurred.

"I'm so sorry." The voice carried a tone of enjoyment and sneer, and briefly she wondered if Jarod was capable of carrying such cruelty in his voice. "But unfortunately for you, it's not your boyfriend."

Taking his time, the presence slowly came into her blurred view, the metal suddenly glistening under the room's lightening momentarily blinding her. A gun, she managed to make out, loosely hanging from the man's hand. The surprise in her face was evident.

"You-" Her eyes went as wide as her current state permitted, which made her look rather comically, her mouth went slightly agape.

"-Are supposed to be dead?" He finished for her, flashing her a devious grin. "Surprise."

"What are you doing here? How did you-"

"Now, now, Miss Parker." He put his free hand up, stopping her upcoming annoying questionnaire, the grin widening. The surprise covering her expression was more than he had expected and every cell of his body was tingling with excitement. Priceless. "Did you really think I was going to die so easily?"

Her silence and confusion were her only reply, and served to spur him on. The sigh of a bewildered, vulnerable Miss Parker was pleasing him in more ways than he could imagine. He kept his grin in place, his 9 mm in her sight.

"What did you do to me?" Standing was becoming a very difficult task by now, her limbs slightly giving away under the weight of her body, weaker and weaker by the second to the point of not being able to support her anymore.

Alex lowered himself onto the chair across from the couch Miss Parker was half occupying, bringing his feet up to rest on the coffee table between them, and crossed his legs at the ankles. He let out a deeply, loudly sigh.

"What did you do to me?" The silence she had gotten as a response the first time raised her annoyance, and she was actually surprised at how her voice came out, loud and demanding, not sure where the strength had come from. Her head was starting to spin.

He rolled his eyes. "Cut the drama, Miss Parker. I added a mild sedative to your alcohol. Soon the full effect is gonna kick in and you're going to sleep peacefully. You'll be good as new in a few hours, though."

She eyed him carefully, suspiciously, the weight of her body duplicating, even breathing seemed a difficult work, tiring. She eased herself onto the couch, unable to stand any longer; keeping her head up was being impossible, and like a new born she had caught herself losing control of her neck, and a couple of times had to snap back into check, bringing her head back up and not let it rest against the back to the couch. She couldn't afford to lose Alex out of her sight.

"I could still have taken you down, knocked you off, tied you up." He shrugged. "But then, I couldn't take any chances of you trying to reach your gun." He saw her steal a glance at her own 9 mm, lying atop the drink cabinet, just where she had laid it upon arriving home. She silently cursed herself and her negligence.

"So I suppose I should thank you?" The sarcasm dripped off her tongue like venom, even in her daze.

He spread his arms out, as if she had finally understood. "Exactly."

She snorted rather ungracefully and realized that the movement sent jolts of pain to her already spinning head. She groaned softly, and used all her strength to bring one hand up to her head. She felt as if she had just woken up after a night of free alcohol party. That feeling she knew a lot of. "This-this isn't just a sedative."

Alex shrugged again. "I made a few modifications of my own, not that it matters to you." He replied with disinterest.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes; the dim light of her living room was starting to be a bother. She wasn't feeling well. "Alex, you son of a bitch, what did you give me?"

"Nothing that will kill you." And gracing her with a sadistic smile, he added, "You'll be conscious when the time comes." Clearing his throat, he stood, stretching like a cat and made a show of checking his wrist watch. "Anyway, you'll be out in no time."

For the first time tonight, since she saw him, Miss Parker really felt fear wash her senses. It stormed down her spine, took a stop at her gut and curled around her toes; every hair on her body was raised in attention. She knew he wasn't someone to play with. He _had_ killed people, he had killed those undercover agents, he had killed the other pretender, wanted to kill Jarod and almost succeeded in killing her former father. All for revenge. She also knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her should the moment arise. He wouldn't blink twice before doing so. But she also knew that for him not having killed her already, it only meant he wanted something first, and that she could use to her advantage. Buy time. Think of a plan.

Not right now, though, because right now her mind was taking a hundred turns at a time, a hundred thoughts mixing and mingling and breaking and forming. A hundred feelings running through her veins. What had he given her?

"You look troubled, Miss Parker. What's on your mind?"

"What do you want?"

His face darkened and all traces of his sociopath bliss vanished. "Revenge."

She almost laughed at that. "Wow, now _that's_ such a surprise." Maybe she would have laughed if she weren't so under the effects of whatever drug Alex had used. "Didn't you get the memo, though? Father dearest is already dead. You're kind of late."

He chuckled, a deep, cruel laughter that sent another jolt of fear to pinprick down her spine. The voices in her head started whispering all at once; increasing the pain she was already feeling. Momentarily she thought if that was how Ethan felt.

"It's not Mr. Parker I want."

-----

"This is Sydney."

"Do you think everyone has a soul mate out there?"

"Jarod." He acknowledged his protégé with a soft greeting, a smile gracing his lips.

"And how do you even know if you have one and who it is?"

Ignoring the question, the psychiatrist made one of his own, curiosity grabbing at the corners of his voice. "Have you met someone, Jarod?" Early in his escape, when he was still basically a baby into the world, he'd call with similar inquiries, feelings and thoughts and images that never before were an issue, attacking his senses with an overbearing power and he'd seek Sydney for help. Things he couldn't understand. After so many years he'd think that by now Jarod would be aware of everything and those before very silly questions and doubts would have faded into bigger ones. But then, the soul mate subject was something that bothered every human being. _Is there someone so perfectly right out there for me? _

Jarod let out a smile of his own. "I have been watching too many... 'chick flicks' as the female population seems to call it. In every one the perfect, unfairly pained beautiful young lady meets her soul mate only to have Fate, or Life, do everything to keep them apart, until things turn out right and she can finally "fix" whatever is wrong with her soul mate."

"That sounds like an accurate description."

"Well, do you?"

Sydney took a moment to think, considering the answers he could give Jarod and what his reaction from each would be. What was the right reply? What was it that _he_ believed? "Yes, I do believe there is someone out there for us, the "other half" if you call it, or soul mate."

"But how do you even know if that's the one?"

This time Sydney sighed honestly lost at what to say. This time he didn't even have an answer for himself. "I don't know, Jarod. I suppose you just... know."

Jarod was in silence, digesting his mentor's reply. When he had called his attention was divided; he was, indeed, curious about these so famous chick flicks, but the other half of him just wanted to get in touch with Sydney, it had been a while and as much as it pained him to admit, he missed his father figure.

"I'm sorry if I can't be of more help, Jarod, but I'm afraid this is one of life's mysteries."

"You have helped enough, Sydney." And with that the goodbye he left was a dial tone.

The moment he dropped his cell phone onto the mattress, his laptop beeped, announcing the arrival of a new e-mail. He wasn't expecting anything. Curious, he took the laptop from the bedside table and placed it on his lap, moving the cursor to the right box, and soon opened his e-mail inbox. There were a few older read messages that he hadn't bothered to delete, but at the top of the inbox was the new arrival. A 'No Subject' marked the title and Jarod frowned. There wasn't anything especially suspicious, but he just had a bad feeling brushing against his nape. His father and Angelo usually titled their messages, and he didn't know of anyone else that had his e-mail address.

He clicked on it, and the page faded into the e-mail itself. There was a video attached and a lone phrase in the content, 'for your viewing pleasure'. He hesitated before downloading the video, considering the possibilities of it being just a virus. But then, he rarely got any viruses, if ever, let alone Spam e-mails. His curiosity was peaking in its high top, though –_curiosity killed the cat,_ still, he clicked on it and waited for the download to finish.

All the while he couldn't shake the feeling on his spine that was raising every hair on his body. He knew it wasn't going to be a good thing.

Once the download was done, it started playing automatically, the screen changing from the white of the page to the black of the video. For the first few seconds all there was, was a black screen staring back at him, until it changed into a colored focus of someone's face that was too close for recognition as the unidentified person fixed the right angle of the camera. Once it seemed right, the person stepped back and Jarod gaped at the sight. There was a moment, afterwards, in which his heart sped up considerably, his teeth clenched and his anger came forth. There was also a tiny stinging fear that came with the knowing.

"Hello there, Jarod!" Alex exclaimed with false cheerfulness, the steel of his voice making Jarod's eyes darken. "Boy, you must be so happy to see me, huh? I'm sure you have plenty of questions twirling around in that genius brain of yours, so to make this short, I'm going straight to the point," At that Alex's voice hardened, his expression changing to one of maniacal anger. "I want you, and I'm going to have you, and I'm not even gonna have to ask." He smiled and the gesture brought a wave of nausea to Jarod's insides. _This can't be good._

Alex stepped back and to the side, into the peripherical corner of the screen, revealing the lone figure hanging to the far back. It made Jarod's heart nearly stop. _No, _he groaned inwardly. _Damn it. _He almost cursed out lout, but years of training taught him to keep his temper in check, at least superficially. He could feel his blood pumping faster inside his veins; his breath became shorter and faster, and his expression became harsh. _Damn it!_

He took a moment to assess Miss Parker's condition; her wrists were bound tightly together, a chain around them was being used to hang her to a ceiling hook. Her face was bent down, her dark hair curtaining her features, sweat visible as tresses were stuck about her face, specially on her forehead and cheeks; her bare feet hardly touching the ground. Black leather mini skirt and a silk button up purple blouse that was wrinkled but still tucked inside her skirt. Her skin was too pale, and he couldn't help but think if she ever took some time to get a little sunshine.

She was unconscious, but otherwise unscathed. Good.

Alex made his way over to Miss Parker, and brought his gun up, poking her unconscious face; his threat evident. If she had been awake, she'd have given him the death glare, Jarod thought. "You have 48 hours, Jarod. You come and she won't be hurt in the mean while. And you'll come alone, Jarod. I'm not kidding." And to emphasize his point, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, her head rolling towards him with no restraints, and pressed the gun firmly under her chin. "I'm _not_ kidding." He repeated, then let her go and walked towards the camera to shut it off. The screen turned black.

As fast as lightening, Jarod's mind thought through thousands of calculations, formulating and discarding one course of action after another, each simulated to fit a different set of contingencies. His heart was beating as fast as his mind was working.

First things first, he had to find out his location. He had 48 hours to find out where Alex was holding Miss Parker and get there hoping she'd be all right and then get her out.

He played the video again, this time ignoring the taunting voice of Alex, and the unsettling sight of an unconscious Miss Parker, focusing on the layout of the place, the building, the lack of furniture, the entrances and exists visible during the short minutes of video feed. Anything that could give him a clue. He played the video once more, then again, and again, and again, until he had every detail recorded in his memory, until he could visualize the space without watching the video again, without even closing his eyes, until he had every inch mapped out in his brain.

He couldn't shake the faint terror and revulsion that insisted in invading his thoughts and feelings, as fragments of what Alex would do to her in case Jarod didn't follow through with his plan appeared in his mind. He knew there was a small possibility Alex could be alive, but it never crossed his mind that, in case he was indeed alive, he would take Miss Parker to further his agenda, and consequently making Jarod's negligence towards her safety widen.

He tried to focus on the current task: find out a location. And he had 48 hours to do so with only the video sent to him as a clue.

48 hours to find her.


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews guys; I really appreciate them. They're more than I was expecting, really. Hopefully what I intend to do won't disappoint anyone. 

Also, I'm a little slow on the writing. I think too much and little of what I come up with goes to paper, I delete more than I keep, AND the hundreds of re readings and rewritingsthat I do lol. I'm also working on another little plot I gave into (adna third one brewing in my mind), so updates will take their sweet time while all of that is into motion.

And last, but not least, English isn't my first language, so while I'm pretty much fluent, slips always happen. Just thought I would let the fact be known.

Anyway, here's the second chapter.

Again, thanks for reading!

CHAPTER 2

He thought about calling Sydney. Or Broots. He considered calling even Lyle and tipping him off, in a moment of desperate thinking. Maybe if The Centre got there and surprised Alex of their arrival, his guard would be down, unexpected and they'd succeed in killing Alex and getting Miss Parker safely out of there. He would have done so if he knew this was one of the scenarios where the outcome would be favorable to both of them, but he knew this was not the case.

He knew there was no way out, there was no way either of them would have a chance if Jarod didn't show up. Alone. Alex had threatened to kill her and he knew he wouldn't hesitate if he had the slightest suspicion that Jarod hadn't carried his part of the forced deal. Besides, with Miss Parker being gone for several hours –bordering days- he wouldn't need to contact The Centre, he knew they would be doing some research of their on, if not the operatives, Sydney and Broots would be doing all they could to find her. The Centre would never give up Miss Parker, sadly, but then, he thought again, maybe that was the only thing keeping her alive. Their unwillingness to let her go and their hidden agenda for her were probably the only things keeping her above the ground rather than under it.

Having an advantage they didn't, Jarod would be several steps ahead, and he hoped to keep it that way. The last thing he needed was being caught by The Centre as he tried to save Miss Parker –again. After Carthis the game had been raised to levels he didn't want to think about; God only knew what would be in store for him, and consequently Miss Parker, if he did get caught. There was just too much to lose now, too much at stake; especially knowing they wouldn't just let her waltz out of her prison once he was in.

It had taken him only a few hours to narrow down his search once he had noticed the small marking on the top double side joint of the iron doors, to Miss Parker's left side as the camera had panned on her. The doors had been far to the back so a good amount of zooming in had been required, distorting quite considerably the marking. Jarod managed to clear it up enough to recognize it as a company logo and once he had put out a search for it, it hadn't been difficult to find out said company. 

Spurlock Manufacturing was located on the outskirts of Philadelphia and exported mainly to the east coast. After that it had been easier to narrow down even more. 157 warehouses in the states of Maryland, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and (to Jarod's immense dismay) Delaware, used these same double joint doors. The problem was figuring out which one Alex and Miss Parker were. Going door to door would take time Jarod didn't have, and he had only a little over 24 hours to do so. 

The pressure started to affect Jarod in ways he tried to ignore. Having a nervous breakdown on top of everything was something Jarod didn't need. He had gone through worse simulations as a child, bigger mental weariness, and physical abuse; he could deal with this. He had to deal with this.

Watching the video for a number of time he knew not, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. On the large window by the iron doors he caught the glimpse of something as the lightening changed in the space of seconds. Jarod had paused the video; freezing the image on the exact second he wanted and extracted a screen print of the image. Zooming in on the window glasses, he focused on the objects that had been reflected for only a moment. Fixing the highly pixeled zoomed in image, he was capable of making out the object: a gallon of bottled water. Then something else caught his eyes, and he squinted, trying to read the single word he could make out: _Spring_.

After that, it all happened almost in a blur. It had been almost too easy to find the exact warehouse. The search he had started had a result almost instantly, finding the name amongst the over a hundred warehouses in the general region he was looking for. Spring Mine Corporation had a Bottling Plant in Washington DC, just along the Potomac River, and checking online for any photos available, they had matched almost perfectly with the inside of the room Alex had filmed.

One hour later Jarod was in an airplane from Texas to Washington. 

---

The first time Alex threatened Parker's life Jarod had been slightly unaware of the repercussion until he was faced with an immediate threat instead of the it's happening now action. Especially with his feelings towards her developing into something he refused to dwell into. She had been shot before, but the shock of the moment prevented him from feeling anything else other than surprise, but he had risked his freedom for her then. 

She had been in life and death situations before, they had been different circumstances, but last time though, last time Jarod had been gripping his arm in pain, dropped to the stairs in exhaustion, Alex smiling on the other side of the metal fence, eyes twinkling and heart fluttering as he threatened her life. The pointed expression, the cruel smile, the venom in his voice and enjoyment as he watched Jarod squirm. There was nothing to stop the feelings this time, the worry, the desperation, the hurt; not the pain in his arm, as blood dripped down, not the soreness coming on his legs as they refused to support him, not the shake of the fence and the footsteps as Alex hurried away. They swirled and engulfed in as the realization sank in.

Through all the years as he ran and searched for his past and the truth of who he was, he hadn't realized that Miss Parker was part of the past he searched for desperately, she was part of what made him the man he was today, not in the level he came to realize later. No matter how much they tried to run away, they always ended up running into each other. Their past and their present were entwined in a delicate and intricate knot that neither of them could make sense of or disengage from.

Theirs was a relationship that no one, not even themselves, could understand. The amount of trust and belief and hope they put in each other went beyond acceptable levels, especially to two people that were supposed to be enemies. While their allegiances were rarely the same, they still managed to be on the same side without choosing.

Something creaked under his black boot, and Jarod looked down startled, out of his reverie. A branch. He looked up, then, and around, quickly assessing his surroundings. Everything was quiet; the large, cemented yard that used to work as a parking lot during the water plan functioning days was empty. The warehouse was located in an isolated area along the Potomac River –to one side the paved road to the entrance, separating the area from the river, to the other side the wide space of unused land, the rest abandoned buildings outside the Water Plant propriety. Strong metal fences secured the private area.

Jarod couldn't help the thought of how isolated it was, how there were one too many places that a person could hide.

He sighed, making his way quietly to the building entrance. He was tired, he was hungry and he was angry, and this all seemed to be just easy. Too easy.

He reached the side of the warehouse, the long window and iron doors he had seen on the video. He tried looking inside, but soon discovered the windows were a one-way glass. He could see nothing from the outside. He knew there was no way in without being caught, he had simulated a hundred different scenarios and the only route he could take was: be caught, get free, and get out, in all simplicity. Alex would be watching, he had cameras installed everywhere, and while Jarod could only see a handful (managing to sneak in out of the focus of said cameras) he knew there would probably a dozen more; all corners and nooks and crannies under Alex's eyes. He had thought this through too much to let anything escape. 

Taking a deep breath, Jarod stepped forward and grabbed the door handle, pushing it open noisily; it screaked painfully, as if begging for some fixing after years in retirement. The inside wasn't much different from what he had mapped out in his mind, different angles, but nothing overly different. 

There was a large old looking wooden table to the far side, where half a dozen monitors had been set up; no doubt each had been split into several smaller screens, showing the video feed from all the cameras Alex had installed. Jarod had known Alex'd have seen him coming. But now he was absent and it nerved Jarod slightly. 

Miss Parker was exactly where she had been, except now, instead of having her back to him as her hook had been moved around, she was hanging on the general direction of where the camera had probably been, her face to him, eyes open.

"Jarod, you idiot." She grunted. She had been hoping he wouldn't come, wouldn't let Alex lure him into this trap, but she could hardly hide the relief and comfort from the fact he _did_ come even though she didn't expect differently. Not from him.

"Miss Parker." He breathed out, relief washing over him as she spoke, her voice strong, no hint of pain; her eyes shone a lucid blue. She looked exactly as she had on the video, no bruises or markings or wounds, only the fatigue obvious on her face. 

He took a couple of steps forward, but before he could get any closer, he was stopped short when his name was uttered. "Jarod, Jarod, Jarod." His tongue clicked at the end of the repeated name, and watched with a satisfied grin as the pretender spun around to face his enemy, gun pointed straight to his chest. "You're _so easy_."

"Alex." The name escaped his lips with scorn, his eyes squinted slightly and teeth gritted. He chanced a step forward but Alex took the safety off his gun and raised an eyebrow in challenge. 

"Don't. Move."

Immediately, Jarod froze on his spot and raised his hands in half surrender. "You have me, Alex, now let her go."

Alex laughed, fully enjoying the open display of emotion from the pretender. Really, and he was supposed to be the genius. "Come on, Jarod, do you really think I'll just 'let her go'?" He saw Jarod visibly tense and decided to just get on with it before the genius had a chance to act. "I see your flaw is still intact."

"I thought you said my flaw in character was trying to help people who weren't important to me."

"Is she important to you?"

Miss Parker, who had been watching the exchange silently, perked up at the question, tensing just like Jarod had a few moments ago. In all honesty, she didn't know what was worse, hearing the answer or just not knowing at all; whatever the answer was, she knew it'd be something she wasn't going to be able to deal with. Should she get her heart broken and deception fill her senses by hearing Jarod say 'no'? Or should she get the same results by Jarod saying 'yes'? Why would he even say yes? It was a tricky situation. The chain around her wrists clinked softly as she shifted her arms involuntarily, bringing to herself unwanted attention -she noticed Jarod's eyes shift to her and back to Alex in a matter of a second.

They were both sparred the reply when Alex continued, watching the awkwardness suddenly fill the room. He grinned again. "I find it funny, don't you?"

Jarod was almost tempted to ask why, but considering the circumstances and the other person in the room he decided to just stay silent. This was not a subject he was particularly comfortable with to talk about. "Alex." He started finally, as the sociopath stared at him from the front, and Miss Parker's eyes were boring holes on his back. "Think about what you're doing. She doesn't have anything to do with this. Let her go." 

"Jarod, I'm getting tired of this." His voice changed from the cold, cheerful tone he was using to another one completely different, steel and cruel and impatient. "Now put this on." And he threw a pair of handcuffs in the air; Jarod caught it easily.

"This is between you and I, Alex, please-" His sentence was curt shortly by the loud sound of a bullet echoing in the wide space, then silence as it connected with flesh. Jarod winced and the handcuffs fell to the floor with a loud metallic clink. The pain inflicted on his right upper arm told Jarod the sociopath was in no mood for mind games. His left hand fled to the wounded spot, his training yelling at him to put pressure and stop the blood before his senses cleared and he realized that while the pain was terrible, it wasn't alarmingly so; the flow of blood strong, but not enough to worry about. 

"Jarod!" This time her silence had reached its limit and before she could stop herself, she had cried out his name, in a worried question if he was all right, her eyes widened in surprise at the loud, familiar sound.

"It's ok." He glanced at her, still gripping his arm, his voice husky with pain. "It just grazed." With a face twisted in pain, Jarod only stared at Alex alarmed. The latter raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not here to play your games, Jarod. I'm running out of patience." Waving his gun around, he grinned as Jarod flinched involuntarily; he gestured to the pole strategically built in middle of the room. "Handcuff your hands on your back and move." Jarod hesitated for only a moment then crouched down to grab the discarded cuffs. "Hurry, Jarod. Next time I won't be so considerate." He looked at Miss Parker. "Or maybe next time I'll miss you altogether." 

This time he did as he was told without uttering a sound, every movement sending a jolt of pain through his wounded arm. But he stayed silent. Once he was done, Alex tightened the cuffs even more, never taking his eyes off Jarod, and smirking as he winced in pain once again, now from the teeth of the handcuffs silently grazing his skin.

"Move." He ordered, and still in silence, Jarod did so, carefully watching Alex's every movement. As soon as he was leaning against the pole, Alex used a rope to tie Jarod's neck to the pole, forcing the pretender to stay still, then moved down to his legs, bounding them, then his waist and chest, tied against the pole almost completely; his arms twisted backwards, his injury stinging painfully, he faced Miss Parker. Once he was done, Alex laid his gun on the floor, and checked Jarod for any weapons. There was none. "I'm surprised, I have to admit. I thought you'd come armed to the teeth ready to rescue the damsel in distress."

Although Miss Parker stayed silent, Jarod could hear her voice in his mind vivid and clear, with just the right amount of anger, _I can take care of myself_. And she could, that was a fact. She could hold her own, stand her ground, and he trusted her enough to do it; growing up at The Centre taught her personally how to do so. But this time she didn't have a way out, this time an outside threat had grabbed her by the neck and cut all her limbs, leaving her powerless to do a damn thing. Her only way out, again, was him.

"What do you want now? You have me." 

"I do, yes." He smiled, emotionless, staring at his newest accomplished task. "I feel… You know what, strangely, I don't feel any sense of accomplishment."

"You want revenge? Fine, take it on me. I'm the one who left you behind; I'm the one that left you to deal with the worst part of The Centre. It's all my fault, she has nothing to do with it, Alex, and you know it."

She knew what he was doing, and there was no way in hell he'd go through with it, she wouldn't let him. He may be a pain in the ass, he may have taunted her, and pissed her off, and made her life a literal living hell for the past few years, but there was no way in hell she'd let him role play as the bad guy in all of this to persuade Alex to let her free; she wasn't about to leave him behind. Not to Alex. If there was one person that was going to kill the bastard, it was going to be her; no one else was about to injury the pretender besides herself. 

As if a switch had been activated by Jarod's words, Alex's emotionless expression turned into one of pure hatred as he suddenly stormed towards Miss Parker and grabbed a fistful of her hair. This time she was conscious but the violent gesture still startled her, as her head bounced back into his hand. Still, she stood her ground and eyed Alex with defiance, even when he pressed the barrel of his gun under her chin. "Let me put this in words you might understand." Pressing the gun even stronger, he spit the words out, "Neither of you is getting out of here."

Miss Parker eyes flickered to Jarod, and briefly wondered what Wonder Boy's plan really was, because he better have a damn good one if he ever wanted to get either of them alive from this hell. He had been stupid enough to fall for Alex's trap, and for her no less. Handing himself on a silver plate had been the least she expected him to do. Why had he never done that with _her_? It'd have saved all of those years of trouble and made her life a hell of easier. 

Her thoughts were harshly broken when she heard Alex's next set of hatred words.

"I'm going to kill her while you watch and squirm and yell my name and beg me to stop." His voice was cold. Colder than she had heard him at her house, colder than he had spoken to her and her father before shooting him. Steel, and maniacal and fear ran down her spine, finding solitude in her gut. "Then, and only then, I'm going to kill you."

Jarod's eyes shifted from Alex to Miss Parker, then back to Alex, and stared into his empty, demoniac eyes, glowing inhumanly in the lightening of the orange setting sun striking the room. He was afraid. For the first time since Alex contacted him, Jarod was truly, utterly afraid. And the strangest part of it all was that it wasn't even his life he feared for.

--

This is pretty much my least favorite chapter and i'm nowhere near happy with what I ended up with, but I just couldn't work this out. Probably the reason I took almost 2 weeks to update lol. I just figured that since I wasn't going anywhere with improving it I may as well just post it already. Chapter 3 is already written and chapter 4 is halfway thru, so they won't take as long to come,I hope. 


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